


How To Annoy Batman

by OkiAshi, Trekkie_Pizza



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Crossover, Gen, bsd, dc/bsd crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2020-09-05 20:50:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20279623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OkiAshi/pseuds/OkiAshi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trekkie_Pizza/pseuds/Trekkie_Pizza
Summary: It was just supposed to be a regular night out on patrol for Batman. That's all it was supposed to be. But after saving a certain detective from a mugger, his whole night- not to mention the next few weeks- go haywire.





	1. An Incompetent Robber

Ranpo took a little while to come to. When he finally opened his eyes, he realized he was surrounded by tall buildings. Judging by the dark sky and illuminated structures, Ranpo could tell it was sometime late at night. There was one more thing he could tell for sure- that this wasn’t Yokohama. 

He stood up and stretched. Normally, he wouldn’t be that concerned about being in a foreign city, but he hadn't packed any snacks with him, so there was that. The other thing was that the Armed Detective Agency would fall apart without him, so he probably should be making arrangements to go back home. That being said, he didn’t actually have any idea where he currently was, not that he’d ever admit that to anyone. 

He figured standing around wouldn't give him any clues. As he started his walk, his mind began to wander. Just where was he anyway? And how did he get here? His thoughts were interrupted by a loud racket coming from a nearby garbage can. He gave it a curious glance. A few seconds later it tipped over with a crash, and a shadowy creature burst from it. It streaked under a nearby streetlight. Karl? No, definitely not. The markings on its fur were nothing like Karl’s. That’s one thing Ranpo could never forget. But it was obviously a raccoon. It was good to see that even in a new city, raccoons were still common. 

On the topic of raccoons, specifically, Karl, Poe, Karl’s owner could easily be the one who sent Ranpo to whatever strange city he was in. It wouldn’t be surprising if wherever this was, happened to be a part of a new novel Poe had written. The question was, why wouldn’t Ranpo remember being sent into one of Poe’s stories? He pushed the thought aside. There wouldn’t be any reason to waste time thinking about small details anyway. It would probably be better to just figure out the mystery and go home.

He began walking again, scouting for anyone who could possibly be up to trouble. He had a feeling that this would take longer than usual. He wasn’t too concerned about being in danger- after all, Poe wouldn’t actually create any characters that could hurt Ranpo. They were past that. 

His feet slowed after a few minutes until he stopped walking altogether. He was almost surprised. He hadn’t planned on stopping, but for whatever reason, he couldn’t continue walking either. He scanned his surroundings.

He was in front of a dimly lit alleyway. He gave a slight frown. This whole place gave off an eerie feeling of deja vu. Only, it wasn’t actually deja vu. Ranpo had seen this place before somewhere… but he hadn’t actually been here. 

He took a step into the alley. Dark, creepy alleys usually had a body or two somewhere in them. Poe might have added in this alley to serve as the place for a crime scene to occur. Also, there was a sign at the entrance that looked awfully like a warning sign. So, so far, so good. 

He had barely been in the alley for a few minutes when he heard someone give a low chuckle. He paused. The laughter continued, and now he could hear someone approaching him. He stayed still. 

“Well. Well. Well.” Someone whispered in his ear. He wrinkled his nose. This guy needed to brush his teeth. “I haven’t seen someone stupid enough to wander into Crime Alley in months. Let alone waltz in here like you’re the king of the place. What exactly do you think you’re doing here, punk?” The man said in English. The man had a thick accent. Ranpo couldn’t exactly place it, but from the way he was speaking, (and the way he heard Poe speak in English) he could tell this guy was American. He smiled. So Poe had decided to challenge him even more by putting him in a place where nobody spoke Japanese. No complaints there. Poe’s mysteries had started to get too easy anyways. 

There was one thing that Ranpo had understood in the man’s threat. Crime Alley. It was a name he’d heard before but never expected to hear in this context.

“Since when did Poe start writing fanfiction?” He muttered to himself. He could tell by his attacker’s confused grunt that he didn’t know Japanese. Huh. Usually, the characters at least understood Japanese. 

He turned around to face the mugger, a little amused. “So you can’t tell what I’m saying. Even better.” The mugger wore a stereotypical ski mask and an all-black outfit. But the uncertainty and irritation in his dark brown eyes were clear. Then, slowly, hesitantly, he began to speak in heavily accented Japanese. 

“Thank you.” 

Ranpo was a little caught off guard. “What?” 

“Thank you?” The guy said again. “Beware the haunted house.” 

_ Um.  _ “Do you have any idea what you’re saying right now?” 

“I’m hungry.” The man said threateningly. 

“So am I.” So this mugger was hangry, apparently.

“I love you.” 

Ranpo couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. The guy stared at him in shock. He mumbled something in English and then took out his phone. He held up a finger. Ranpo decided to oblige and stayed in place. After a few seconds, the guy began speaking in Japanese again.

“Can you understand me now?” 

Ranpo took pity on the man and nodded. Poe seemed to also be into writing comedies now. Or this was some bizarre Batman fanfiction that Poe never wanted Ranpo to see. That seemed more likely. 

“Good. If I said anything dumb before I started using Google Translate, forget I did. Alright?” He glared at Ranpo. Ranpo nodded, fully intending on telling everyone about this encounter later. 

“Thanks.” The man said. He typed something into his phone again then whipped out a gun. “Now, if you wanna live, give me all your money.” He wasn’t nearly as intimidating when he was still squinting at his screen. Ranpo stifled a yawn. This guy was wasting his time. He could have been back home by now. He turned to go. The guy yelled something at him in English, but when he realized that Ranpo still wouldn't be able to understand him, he typed something again.

Ranpo was almost out of the alley when the guy caught up to him. The man screeched at him in Japanese. “What the heck do you think you’re doing?!” He ran in front of Ranpo. Ranpo stared back at him. He would have to talk to Poe about not making his characters so annoying.

He tried to sidestep him, but the mugger moved quickly. All of a sudden, Ranpo was pinned up against a wall and he wasn't quite sure how he’d gotten there. 

“Last chance, buddy.” The guy said in English, and while Ranpo didn’t know exactly what he said, he got the message. He waited for the mugger to let go, then slowly reached into his pockets. He wasn’t sure what the mugger would do with Japanese yen, but he decided to humor him. He took out a few yen.

The guy reached out his hand greedily. His eyes gleamed. 

“I didn’t think there were any more petty criminals in Gotham.” A gravelly voice spoke from behind him. Ranpo smirked. Of course, he’d be there. He would never miss a chance like this. If, in fact, he was the guy Ranpo thought he was.

The mugger spun around and almost fainted on the spot. He gave a sheepish grin. “H-hey Bats. Fancy seeing you here.” Ranpo could have rolled his eyes. This mugger was stereotypical it almost made Ranpo want to throw up. Batman remained as stoic as ever. 

“Hm.” Batman raised his gloved fist, and within seconds, he had knocked out the mugger. 

“You okay?” He asked in perfect Japanese.

“Yep.” Ranpo was thirsty. He wanted Ramune.

Batman gave a curt nod to Ranpo and then prepared to use his grappling hook. He fired it, but before the hook reached the top, Ranpo spoke. 

“So it’s really you? Bruce Wayne?” Ranpo said.

Batman froze. His arm dropped down, and the hook was pulled down as well. It hit the ground with a loud clatter, but neither man gave it any attention. 

That was when Batman gave his famous Bat-Glare. Ranpo looked back at him. Somewhere in Batman, he had a grudging respect for this man who seemed unfazed by everything that just happened. He scowled. He had a bad feeling that this guy was going to be a handful. 

He stalked over to Ranpo menacingly and leaned in close. “How much do you know?” 

At least Batman’s breath smelled better than that dumb mugger’s. 


	2. Damian And The Raccoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for Poe continues...

Batman studied the man sitting across from him. He didn’t look too threatening, if the vigilante was being perfectly honest. He looked almost ...bored. 

"Do you have any snacks? If not, I might as well leave and go try to figure out the rest of the mystery." Ranpo rested his chin on the table. 

"Mystery?" Batman asked.

"You ignored my question." 

Batman was tempted to flip the table over. This man hasn't said anything on the way to a hidden warehouse, but now that they were here, he hadn’t shut up about food. Batman gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep calm. 

"I'll give you some snacks if you explain the mystery you mentioned."

“It really isn’t anything exciting. I don't exactly know how I got here but it was probably because of my...rival? I guess that's what he calls me. He can send people into stories he writes so that's the best explanation I have for how I got here.” Ranpo said abstractedly. “Can I have a snack now?" 

Batman let out a sigh. He got up and walked to a minifridge nearby them and opened it up. He took out a veggie dip and gave it to Ranpo. Ranpo gave Batman a hard look.

“Do I look like the type of person who likes veggie dips?” He leaned back in his chair. Batman was tempted to snap back at him, but he still had questions for him. He silently took back the veggie dip and looked at the rest of the food in there. A lone pudding cup sat solitarily on the top shelf of the fridge.

He had been looking forward to that pudding cup. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Jason would have stolen it anyway. 

He took the cup and slowly walked back to Ranpo, grabbing a spoon from a drawer on the way there. He handed him the pudding cup. 

He sat down again. “Stories?”

Ranpo opened the pudding cup and cocked his head. “You’re a man of few words, aren’t you, Mr. Wayne?”

Batman (now exposed as Bruce Wayne) bristled. 

“Answer the question.” 

“Fiiinee…” Ranpo whined. “I guess you'd think all of this is real, wouldn’t you? Where I come from, Batman is just a series of comics. If Poe, the rival I mentioned before, sent me here, this is probably some kind of Batman fanfiction he's come up with."

Bruce felt vague horror at the fact that there was fanfiction written about him. He didn’t even want to know what those stories were about. He leaned forward. 

“What does Poe look like?” 

Ranpo leaned back in his chair. “A shy looking guy with purplish-brown hair and bangs that cover his eyes. Also, he has a pet raccoon. You do realize you won’t find him, right?” He said lazily. 

“We will,” Bruce said firmly, and before Ranpo could tell him that it was physically impossible for Poe to be there, Bruce had already pressed a button on his earpiece and was barking orders. After describing Poe, he looked back at Ranpo.

“What’s his full name?” 

Ranpo’s answer was completely nonchalant. “Edgar Allan Poe.” Bruce gave him another Bat-Glare, even though it wouldn't be any use. He had been so close to getting rid of this guy, and then the other man had to go and do something stupid like say that his friend was a long-dead author. 

“Do you want to get home?” He growled at Ranpo.   
“That would be ideal.” 

“Then what’s his name?” 

"I already told you. You don't believe me?"

"There's no way your "rival" is a famous author who’s been dead for centuries."

“Uh.” At this point Ranpo looked a little concerned. “I don’t know who you’re talking about, but my Poe is still alive, and isn’t famous.” 

They stared at each other again. Bruce let out another sigh. He was sighing quite a lot. He pressed the button on the earpiece again. 

“His name is Edgar Allan Poe.” From where he was sitting, Ranpo could hear someone yell something in Bruce’s ear.

“Calm down, Jason.” 

******

Ranpo didn’t know a whole lot about Batman, but he was familiar with the Batmobile, and riding in Batman’s car was sort of fun. The only bad thing was that the vigilante wouldn't let him listen to music. At all. 

Thankfully, it was a short ride to the Batcave. He watched flashes of Gotham whip by as they drove. It  _ was _ a pretty city. Too bad it was corrupted. 

They arrived at the Batcave in about eight minutes. When they drove into the cave, he saw the giant penny that was pretty much the symbol of the Batcave. If that wasn’t enough to hint at the fact that they had arrived at Batman’s secret headquarters, there was also about twenty other vehicles parked, all with some thing to indicate that they were the property of Batman. 

Batman forced the car to slow down. He opened the door, which Ranpo took as a cue to get out of the car. His legs were no longer cramped, so that was good. Batman took off his cowl. He walked towards an overly complex computer, not uttering a word to the other man. He looked at the corner of one of the many screens and saw it was about three am. 

“Who the heck are you?” He heard a familiar, angry voice snarl. He closed his eyes for a second, let out a breath, and then opened them again.

“Leave him alone, Damian.” 

“Why should I?!” Damian asked defiantly. He held a katana that he had just grabbed up to Ranpo’s neck. Ranpo looked him up and down. He looked extremely similar to his father- the same jawline and black hair was there. Bruce’s son, maybe?

“Listen, shorty, I don’t want to be here anyway. I’m not afraid of you so you might as well stop trying to fight me while I’m stuck here.” Ranpo said apathetically.

Damian looked ready to kill him. “WHAT DID YOU JUST-”  
“Ah, the lovely sound of Master Damian screaming. Music to my ears.” A very sarcastic British voice said dryly. “Hello, Master Bruce.” Bruce turned around gave a small smile upon seeing his butler. 

“Alfred.” 

Alfred turned and faced Ranpo. “And you are?” 

From the inquiring look in his eye, Ranpo guessed that Alfred had no idea who he was. 

“I’m Edogawa Ranpo.” 

Damian lowered his sword in disbelief. “Impossible. Ranpo d-”

“Apparently in his universe, long-dead authors are still alive. And they have superpowers.” Bruce cut in. Ranpo was glad to see that the kid looked shocked. 

“Hence us trying to find a certain Edgar Allan Poe?” Alfred asked, this time in Japanese. 

“Right,” Bruce answered quietly. 

“Well, that clears everything up. And now it is time for all of you to head to bed. Master Ranpo, I’ll show you to a guest bedroom.” 

Ranpo didn’t feel like complaining. The two Waynes, on the other hand, scowled. 

“Damian can go to sleep. I need to do more research.” Bruce said stubbornly. 

If Alfred wasn’t too dignified, he’d have rolled his eyes. “Three a.m. is not the time for heavy research. Especially when you have a gala you have to attend tomorrow. And a meeting at two pm right before that.”

“Alfr-” 

“Not another word.” 

There was a long pause, and then Bruce gave in. “Fine. But I don’t want anyone to bother me before that.” He stalked (he really liked walking dramatically, Ranpo noticed) passed the other three, and went upstairs.

“Does he ever take the rest of that outfit off?” Ranpo said offhandedly. 

Alfred gave a small chuckle. “Only when necessary.” 

He took Damian and Ranpo upstairs, into the Manor. Alfred found Ranpo a room, and the detective fell on top of the bed. Within seconds, he had fallen asleep. Alfred gave a small smile. It seemed as though Ranpo had seen all he needed, or wanted to see.

******

Ranpo almost slept longer than Bruce. Almost. But Bruce was the second-longest oversleeper of Wayne Manor. (Tim Drake was the first.) So, in the end, Ranpo woke up twenty minutes before Bruce did. It took him another five minutes to fully awaken. What really woke him up was his hunger. That pudding cup had not been filling.

He opened the door to his room and looked out into the corridor. He had no idea where he was supposed to go. Oh well. He walked aimlessly for a few minutes, and then eventually decided that he should just backtrack and wait for someone (ideally Alfred) to find him. But he ended up even more lost. This is why he needed people to go with him to places. 

He finally found a stairwell and started descending. After he made it down the stairs he turned right and walked for a few seconds. He turned the corner again, only to almost run into someone else.

“Ffffffffff…. Frick!” The man he ran into yelped.

“Nice save.” Ranpo acknowledged. The man grinned at him.

“Thanks.” He brushed the hair out of his eyes. “You’re Ranpo?” 

“Yeah,” Ranpo said calmly. The man extended his hand towards him.   
“Richard Grayson. But you can call me Dick. I’m Bruce’s eldest son.”

Ranpo shook his hand. He had a firm grip. Dick Grayson. That was the only Robin he was familiar with, although he had heard that there were others after him.

“So, uh wanna come eat with us?” 

“I’d never say no to free food.”

Dick laughed a little. “Me neither, to be honest with you.”

The dining room was much easier to find, now that Ranpo had an escort. Right before they entered, though, Dick hesitated. “Just so you know, Alfred sometimes likes to overdo himself. So be prepared.”

He slowly opened the door and headed inside. Ranpo followed him and walked into the most beautiful dining room he’d ever seen in his life.

Dick wasn't joking about Alfred overdoing himself. There were plates and plates of breakfast foods laid on top of a table. Pancakes. Eggs. Waffles. French toast. Omelettes, Croissants. Alfred had made everything. Dick caught the look on Ranpo’s face and stifled a laugh. 

“Yeah, breakfast is taken pretty seriously at the Manor. Especially since it’s usually brunch. And also because we’re starving when we wake up at ridiculous hours.”   
“Good thing you do.” Ranpo was already heading over towards the table. He sat down and held in a gasp. For there on a plate right next to him, sat the most gorgeous batch of donuts he had ever seen. 

“America isn’t as bad as I thought. Poe should have told me there were so many amazing food options here.” He whispered to himself as he took a donut.

“I’m glad to see that you’re satisfied,” Alfred said from behind him. “Want anything to drink? Water? Juice? Coffee? Lemonade?” 

Ranpo immediately asked for apple juice, and then spent the next six minutes talking to Dick and eating food. After a few minutes, a very tired looking Bruce walked into the dining room.

“Morning, B!” Dick said cheerfully. Bruce mumbled something and then sat down at the head of the table. He grabbed a cluster of grapes and started eating them. 

“Oh, look who decided to grace us with his presence.” Alfred came in and looked at Bruce disapprovingly. 

“Where’s the coffee?” 

“In the kitchen,” Alfred said. Bruce didn’t say anything. Alfred grew impatient. “Would you like some, Master Bruce?” Dick snickered a little. Bruce gave a slow nod. “Very well, then.” 

A few minutes later, when they were all quietly eating their food, Damian stomped downstairs. He looked just as tired as Bruce, but when he saw Ranpo, he gave him a glare that would kill him, if looks could kill.

He looked at his father. “Where’s Drake?” Bruce still didn’t say anything, but Dick answered.

“He’s still asleep, Dami. Why?” 

“No reason,” Damian said quickly. He grabbed a waffle. “I’m going out.”

Finally, Bruce spoke. “No, you’re not.” 

“Yes, I am. The art store is having a sale today, and all the supplies I want are going to be gone by late afternoon.” Father and son glared at each other. Ranpo decided that now was not the time to tell Damian that he’d be able to afford everything without the sale anyway- he was a billionaire. Then Bruce looked down. 

“Fine. But you’re going to the gala.” He said. Damian looked stricken. 

“Father-” 

“Take it or leave it.”

Damian looked like he was going to blow a fuse. “Okay. Can I go now?” 

Bruce nodded, and within a second, Damian was gone. Ranpo almost laughed. That kid really didn’t like him. 

*******

Damian stormed home. Buying new sketchbooks and art supplies hadn’t put him in a much better mood. He knew that as soon as he got home, he’d have to face his father, his oldest brother, and that stranger that had appeared out of nowhere and seemed to have made himself right at home. He clenched his fists. 

At least he knew his father wasn't happy about this, either. But Grayson… Grayson had obviously taken a liking to this person. He would be preoccupied with Ranpo now. If Damian wasn’t out in public, he would have punched a wall or something. 

Something brushed against his leg, distracting him immediately. He looked down impulsively and stepped backward in surprise. A raccoon stared at him blankly.

No one else had seemed to notice them. The raccoon scurried towards Damian and clambered up his leg. Damian stayed still, partly from shock, partly from the fact that he didn’t want to scare the critter off. The raccoon pushed his face towards the teenagers and sniffed him. Then, suddenly, he clambered back down again. He sat in front of Damian. Damian had to smile. The raccoon was ridiculously cute. 

He put a hand into one of his pockets and rummaged around there for a second. He pulled out a granola bar and knelt down to look at the raccoon. Normally, he was against giving wild animals food, but this raccoon obviously wasn’t wild. Something about that tugged at Damian’s mind. The raccoon snatched the granola bar away and ran off. Damian watched it go. Then realization hit him. 

Tame. Raccoon. Poe.

“Hey!” He yelled out. The raccoon didn’t even look back. Damian ran after it. 

It didn’t run far, thankfully. Only into an alleyway. As Damian got closer he could hear someone scolding it. 

“Karl! How could you? Stealing is low, even for you. Not to mention the fact that you ran away into a crowd….” There was a long pause, and then the man continued. “That being said, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday, and you’ve brought me food, so I might as well eat it.”

Damian’s heart sped up. He peered around the corner. 

A man stood there, opening up the granola bar. Purplish brown bangs covered his eyes, and he wore an outfit that could almost be considered fancy. He split the granola bar in half, then handed his raccoon half. He was so focused on the raccoon that he didn’t realize that he was being watched until someone spoke. 

“Poe?” He dropped the granola bar completely. 


	3. A Fanboy At The Gala

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce meets a certain somebody at the gala.

Damian had never seen someone look as relieved as Poe when he entered the living room at the Manor and saw Ranpo sitting in an armchair. 

The detective was intently reading a book while a black and white cat rested on his lap. Damian could hear Pennyworth purring from where he was standing, several feet away. He glowered at them.  _ Pennyworth, you traitor.  _ He thought bitterly. 

Immediately after walking into the room, Karl ran up to Ranpo, finally getting the man to look up from his book. Pennyworth sniffed the raccoon curiously but didn’t do anything else. 

“Karl?” Ranpo shifted his gaze to the two people in front of him. “And Poe-kun. I guess this isn’t one of your stories then.”

“You thought I sent us here? Uh, actually. Where are we?” Poe asked.

“Gotham. You know, from Batman.”

“What’s...Batman?” 

“WHAT’S BATMAN?!” Damian yelled, scaring both of the animals, and Poe. The older man cowered under his gaze. 

“I’m sure you know what, or who, Batman is, Master Damian.” Alfred peeked in. “Ah, hello there. You must be Edgar Allan Poe. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.” 

“You- you’ve heard about me?” Poe blushed and avoided meeting Alfred’s eyes. 

“You’re anything anyone’s been talking about.” Alfred said. He approved of this quiet man. He was a stark contrast to Ranpo. 

“Oh, right! Poe, they gave me this book that they said you wrote. Apparently you exist in their world too. Or, well, you died but you used to exist. The version of you in this world writes just as predictable mysteries though.” Ranpo held up the book he was reading. 

“Died?” Poe said, dumbfounded. 

“Yeah. He died a while ago. He was even more of a downer than you are.” 

Damian was still silently fuming. “How do you not know who Batman is? He’s the savior of this city.” 

“Master Damian, not everyone knows who Batman is in this universe either.” Alfred said calmly. 

Damian spun around to face the butler. “Name one person.”

“I can’t. You’d terrorize them.” Alfred walked away. Damian glared after him while Ranpo openly laughed. Poe was too scared to even smile. Damian gave Ranpo a venomous look and stomped out of the living room.

A few minutes later Bruce came in. He saw Poe sitting awkwardly next to Ranpo while Ranpo chatted away about the Edgar Allan Poe of the DC universe.

Poe felt someone looking at him and quickly looked up. A man who looked almost identical to Damian -apart from the fact that he was older and had a different eye color- was watching him. Ranpo noticed that Poe was no longer paying attention and followed his gaze. 

“Oh, hey, Bruce.” He gestured to Poe. “Bruce, Poe. Poe, Bruce. Bruce is Batman.” Bruce looked at him sharply, but then extended his hand towards Poe. Poe timidly shook it. 

“Uh, is it okay if I call you Bruce then? It seems like you’re okay with Ranpo-kun calling you that.” Bruce looked at him in shock for a moment. He hadn’t counted on Poe being so polite. 

“Bruce is fine.” He smiled a little bit. Ranpo kicked Poe. 

“How come you didn’t tell me there were so many good food options in America?” Ranpo said. Poe gave a shy smile. It was good to see that Ranpo was still the same as ever. 

******

Damian dragged his feet down the hall. In one arm he carried a sketchbook and a pencil case. He had the usual scowl on his face, and wore an extremely fancy suit. He hated galas. Good thing his father hated galas as much as he did. He could probably convince either Bruce or Grayson to take him home early. But still. 

He walked outside and was surprised to see Tim awake. 

“Drake. You’re still alive. Shame.” 

“Hardy har har.” The sixteen-year old’s voice dripped with sarcasm. 

“Have you met those intruders yet?” 

“They’re not intruders, Damian. And yes, I have.” Tim still sounded tired. 

“We never invited them over.” Damian mumbled. Tim didn’t say anything. Instead, he took out his phone and started looking through his Instagram feed. Damian let out a frustrated huff. 

Dick and Bruce came out seconds later. 

“Tim! You’re not dead!” Dick said, enveloping Tim in a bear hug. Tim made an indifferent sound. 

“Where are the intruders?” Damian said. 

“Not intruders.” Tim said without looking up from his phone. Damian ignored Tim again. 

“They’re staying at home. Alfred’s watching them.” Bruce answered, and walked over to the limo parked in the parking lot. 

“Get in.” He opened the car door. 

“Sir, yes sir.” Tim muttered. 

“Shut up, Drake.” Damian said while Dick cracked up. 

******

At around eleven twenty, Bruce was ready to go home. He had been at the gala for five hours, and his mouth hurt from fake smiling so much. If one more person came up to him and started gossiping with him, he would scream. He didn’t care what impression that would leave on everyone else. 

He pulled out his phone and texted Dick, Tim, and Damian to get ready to leave. He hadn’t received any news about what was going on with Ranpo and Poe, so either Ranpo had destroyed the house, or everything was fine. 

He turned off his phone and started making his way to the exit. On his way there, he heard a group of women talking and paused. 

“He’s just about our age too. Perfect for you, Bethany.” One of them elbowed the girl in the middle.

“Oh, definitely. I mean, who can resist someone like him…. He’s cute, he’s charismatic, and he seems eager to date anyone.” Bethany said. 

“True.” Another woman replied. “Too bad he’s also eager to die.” Bruce’s eyes widened, and he got closer. Or at least, as close as he could without them seeing him. 

“Who knows. Maybe one of us could convince him to live longer.” Bethany said. They all giggled at the thought. 

“He has the coolest fashion sense too.” Another one of them gushed. 

“Absolutely. Girls, we should start wearing bandages and try to impress him next time we go to a gala.” The first one said. They all nodded in agreement. Bruce had heard enough. He strode over to them and gave them his biggest smile. 

“Excuse me, ladies,” He began, “where is this man you’re talking about?” If they were bothered by him eavesdropping, they didn’t show it.

“Oh, last time we saw him, he was by the refreshments,” Bethany said, twirling her hair. He gave her another smile. 

“Thank you! Have a nice night!” He headed to the refreshments table, his smile quickly slipping away. Whoever this man was, Bruce knew he meant trouble. He sounded like a supervillain or a villain at least. He had already smitten some ladies. Maybe he had tried to convince them to kill themselves. Maybe he had already succeeded. 

He finally reached the table and scanned the crowd in front of it. No one really stood out. At least at first. But then a flash of white caught his eye. He looked in that direction and felt a small surge of triumph. 

There was a man- around his early twenties- standing off to the side, chatting with two women. From the way he acted, Bruce could tell he was flirting with them. They were laughing hysterically at something he said. Bruce scowled. 

The man was dressed in a long tan brown trench coat. He had either forgotten to tie the belt that came with the jacket, or he had selectively chosen not to. From the way the man carried himself, Bruce guessed it was the latter. 

The man also had dark brown hair with bangs that sort of fell into his eyes, but nothing like the bangs Poe had. But those things weren't the thing that caught Bruce’s attention in the first place. It was his arms. They were wrapped carefully in bandages, or at least the parts that weren't hidden by sleeves. 

Bruce had a feeling that a certain detective would know him. He took out his phone and texted Ranpo. He had gotten his number a few hours before, just in case anything happened. 

**Does a man wearing bandages around his arms ring a bell to you?**

He didn’t expect Ranpo to answer. If he did, he’d probably be as cryptic as possible. That was why he was mildly surprised when Ranpo answered back after about ten seconds.

**Yeah. **

Bruce clutched his phone even tighter. What was happening? He walked towards him. People were staring at him, now, he knew, so he forced himself to give a smile. 

The man kept talking, seemingly oblivious to Bruce. After a woman responded though, he looked quickly at Bruce. It was only for a millisecond, however, and then he turned back to face the woman. Bruce kept making his way towards the man. When he was about ten feet away from him, the man suddenly looked at him again. The change in his expression was subtle, but Bruce could see that he was beyond surprised. 

He straightened up.

“You’re Bruce Wayne!” The man looked around to see that no one else was even slightly shocked to see Bruce Wayne in the flesh. Bruce was a little intrigued to see that this man already knew who he was. 

“That’s me!” He fake grinned at the man, “And you are?” 

The man extended a hand to shake. Bruce shook it.

“Wow! You smiled! How rare. I’m Dazai Osamu. If you don’t mind me asking, how do you...exist? I’m pretty sure this isn’t a dream. So either I’m dead, or something happened.” Dazai said in rapid fire Japanese. Bruce felt his smile starting to fade, but he forced himself to keep it on him. He responded in Japanese as well.

“You’re in another universe. I can explain the rest in the car.”

Dazai smirked. “Of course. I don’t exactly trust anyone around us either.” He looked back at the women and quickly said goodbye. They giggled and said goodbye as well, their voices unusually high.

Bruce didn’t say anything while he walked off with Dazai. Dazai didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he just seemed happy to just be walking next to Bruce. The billionaire was struck with a terrible thought. What if Dazai was someone who wrote fanfiction about Batman? He shook his head.  _ Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.  _

And there was Dazai’s name, too. It had sounded familiar earlier, and now he remembered where he had heard it before. He had actually read some of the books that the Dazai of his world had written, and he had actually enjoyed them.  _ Although,  _ he thought to himself,  _ I never pictured the famous Osamu Dazai to wear bandages and be a twenty-something year old fan of me.  _ He stopped and looked around for his children. 

“Looking for someone?” Dazai asked. Bruce gave a slight nod but didn’t elaborate. 

“B!” Someone called from behind them. Dazai wiped around so fast that he almost got whiplash. Dick Grayson was waving at them.  _ Dick freaking Grayson.  _ Bruce saw recognition flash in Dazai’s eyes and his heart sank. Oh no.

Moments later, the three of his sons had arrived.   
“Took you long enough, Father.” Damian said, and Dazai had to control himself and not smile like he was insane. 

“I had something to do.” Bruce said cooly. 

“Do what?’ Tim said skeptically. Dazai looked at him in excitement. It was actually Tim Drake. 

“He had to meet me.” Dazai cut in. They all turned to face him. Dick and Tim just looked confused, while Damian- predictably- looked furious. 

“Who are you?” He said, his voice low. 

Unlike Poe, Dazai didn’t seem the least bit fazed about Damian being angry at him. 

“I’m Dazai Osamu. Nice to actually meet you all.”

Dick and Tim’s eyes no longer looked confused, and Dick gave a big grin. 

“Nice to meet you too. I’m guessing you’re friends with Ranpo and Poe?”


	4. Expensive Tastes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a stranger at the bar. That's all you need to know.

Jason was in a good mood. Then again, he was always in a good mood when Bruce held a gala. That was because everyone would be out of his hair for hours, since they were too busy pretending to be nice. Tonight, he decided to go to a local bar and maybe spam Tim with texts. 

So here he was, in one of the most popular bars in this part of Gotham, listening to the chatter of people and the low jazz music playing from speakers. He took a sip of his drink.

The door opened again, but Jason didn’t pay too much attention to the newcomer. Whoever it was, though, seemed more than a little stressed. His eyes landed on the stool next to Jason’s. He walked over to it and paused. 

“It’s not taken.” Jason said, and so the stranger sat next to him. Jason looked at him more closely. 

The guy wore a black narrow brimmed hat that hid some of his orange hair. He had on a black jacket that rode on his shoulders (apparently he didn’t know what sleeves were). His whole attire was semi-formal. Jason felt underdressed just sitting next to the man.

His neighbour took out a phone and tapped on a few things before putting the phone next to his ear. He waited for a few seconds while Jason looked straight ahead, and then angrily pressed the end call button on his phone.

“Sh*t.” He swore in Japanese. Jason looked at him again curiously. The man glared at his phone, then looked up and caught Jason’s eye. 

“What?” He asked abruptly. Jason shrugged wordlessly and took another sip of his drink. The man raised a finger for the bartender. Shortly after, the bartender came in. 

“You got a ‘64 Romane?” The man asked in English. Jason’s eyes widened slightly. That was an expensive wine. 

Unfortunately for the man, the bartender shook his head. “We haven’t gotten a shipment for that in years.” The man flushed red. 

“He’ll have the ‘84 Mencia.” Jason spoke up, and they both stared at him. The man who was ordering looked annoyed, but he gave a curt nod to the bartender. 

“I’ll be right back.” The bartender said, then strode away. Jason talked again before the other man could start yelling at him. 

“It’s good. Trust me. You won’t regret paying for it.” He said in Japanese, and gave a cocky grin. 

“I’m paying for it?!” The man almost exploded from anger. 

“Yeah.” Man, this guy almost had the same temperament as Damian. “It’s one of the most rare wines on the planet. You don’t want to miss out.”

The man’s anger subsided, but he still didn’t look happy. “So they have some rare drink from God knows where, but they don’t have a f*cking bottle of ‘64 Romane?” 

“It’s dumb, I know.” Jason said, swirling around his own wine. “You have excellent taste though.” The man looked stunned for a minute, and then relaxed a little bit.

“It’s good to see at least someone likes my taste in something. I used to have to work with this guy who never appreciated anything I did for him even after I saved his life countless times. He still doesn’t. Thank god I don’t have to work with him anymore. That’s one thing to drink to for sure.” Jason smirked a little. 

“Yeah, I can sorta relate.” At this point, the bartender had come back and placed the drink in front of the other man. “I used to work with someone who critisized me in everything that I did. He still does it now. You’re lucky that you got rid of your partner, though. I still have to interact with this guy.”

The man took a sip of his drink. “I  _ wish _ I could get rid of him. But my boss still forces me to work with him from time to time.” 

Jason gave a sympathetic groan. “That sucks. People suck in general.” 

The man grinned at him now. “Yeah, they do.” He looked at his phone again and his smile disappeared. 

“No connection?” Jason asked. The man looked up. 

“How’d you know?” 

Jason held up his own phone. “I don’t have it either. Although, I’m sorta happy about it. That guy I was telling you about can’t text me at all. He’s at some event, so he’d be busy anyway.”  
“Is that so? I guess having a signal might not even really do much for me anyway. I honestly can’t remember how I even got here so it’s possible I wouldn't be able to reach anyone I’d need to.”

“Oh, that stinks.” Something about this man’s story tugged at something in his memory. However, he was too tired to think much about it. “I’d tell you to talk to the police, but they’re pretty corrupt.”  
The man gave a short laugh. “That sorta reminds me of a comic book series I read.” 

Jason looked at him for a moment, then looked back at his drink. “I’ve read a few novels that have corrupt policemen in there. Edgar Allan Poe particularly liked mentioning them in his books.” 

“You mean that guy from the Guild? You’ve heard of him?” The man took another sip of his drink. Jason twisted around so fast that the other guy almost spilled his drink over his shirt. 

“What the h*ll do you mean, part of the Guild?! And of course I’ve heard of him! He’s Edgar Allan Poe!” 

The man looked at him weirdly. 

“Are you a fan of his or something? So what if he’s Edgar Allan Poe? It’s not like he’s famous or anything. And you have to know what the Guild is. They made major news with that whole crashing a ship into the city thing.” The man started to look more and more confused. 

“What???” Jason squinted at him. They glared at each other. 

“Are you kidding me?” The man hissed. “You know, that giant zeppelin thing?” 

“You’ve had wayyyyy too much to drink, dude.” Jason tried to take the drink away, but the man slammed his arm down to protect the drink, spilling a few drops of wine.

“You’re the one who’s had too much to drink. How could you forget about the zeppelin attack on your city that happened a few months ago?”

People were staring at them now, but the men didn’t notice their audience. 

“My city?!” Jason was now standing up, looming over the other man. The other man pushed back his chair and stood up too. He looked ready to fight. 

“YOKOHAMA!” He pretty much screamed. That was about the only word that the audience could understand, because they were still yelling at each other in Japanese.

“WHAT THE H*LL?” Jason roared, and everyone got quiet. “THIS IS F*CKING GOTHAM!!!!” 

The man grew silent. He looked stunned. Then he jabbed a finger in Jason’s chest and growled, “You idiot! Gotham isn't real.” He turned to go, but Jason stood in his way. 

“What do you mean, Gotham isn’t real?! Where do you think you are?” He murmured. The man opened his mouth, thought for a minute, then closed it. He opened it again, but no sound came out. 

“I..don’t know.” The man said, much more quietly than before. “I woke up in an alleyway and don’t really remember how I got here. I guess I just assumed I was somewhere close to home.”

Jason seemed to soften a little bit. “C’mon.” He slapped money onto the counter. “This should cover your drink as well.” The man gave him a long look before nodding. They walked out of the bar quietly. 

They trekked for a few minutes before pausing just before a street light. 

“Um.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “So, I don’t really know how to explain this to you. But uh…. Well. Uh, what’s your name, first of all?” The man looked at him suspiciously, then said slowly. 

“Nakahara. Nakahara Chuuya.” 

Now it was Jason’s turn to look stunned. “Nakahara? Wait. That- that actually makes sense.” He took a step back in surprise, walking into the light. He heard a sharp intake of breath and squinted at Chuuya. 

“What?” 

“Holy sh*t. Holy sh*t.” Chuuya backed away in surprise. 

“Nakahara?” Jason asked uncertainty. He hadn’t known Chuuya for that long, sure, but he hadn’t ever expected to see such a look on the other man’s face.

“You- are you- I mean, Jason Todd?” 

*****

Alfred was dusting the giant dinosaur when he heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle. He turned around, half smiling. It had been a while since Master Jason had come to the Batcave. 

He watched as the man turned off the motorcycle, then took off his helmet. Jason grinned at the butler. “Hey, Alfred.” 

“Hey, yourself.” Alfred said, only sort of teasingly. He had tried to teach Jason how to speak properly, but his second oldest pseudo grandson never caught on. Jason jumped off the bike and dusted himself off. It was only then that Alfred saw that he’d brought a guest. 

The guest stared at him with wide eyes. Alfred gave a little nod towards him, then addressed Jason. 

“Master Jason, are you going to introduce me to your friend?” He said, raising an eyebrow. Jason barked a laugh. 

“Yeah, I guess I should. Alfred, meet Nakahara Chuuya. Nakahara, meet Alfred Pennyworth. Although, I guess you know who he is already.” Noticing Alfred’s quizzical look, he quickly continued. “Nakahara has read the comics.”

“Ah.” 

“Yeah.” 

There was an awkward silence, then Alfred cleared his throat. “Well, Master Nakahara, there’s some food upstairs. Feel free to go upstairs and grab some.”

Chuuya mumbled something unintelligible, then got off the bike as well. He found the stairs and walked up them. Once he was gone, Alfred spoke again. 

“Quite the quiet one, hm, Master Jason?” 

Jason laughed again. “You should have seen him at the bar. He ranted about this guy for like ten minutes.” 

“And you didn’t rant about Master Bruce at all?” Alfred asked slyly. Jason chuckled while taking off his leather jacket. 

“No fair. I thought we were talking about Nakahara.”

Alfred turned back to the dinosaur. “You know me. I can’t stand hypocrisy.” 

*****

Chuuya’s mouth dropped open involuntarily as he entered Wayne Manor. He’d seen what it looked like, of course, when he had read the comics. But never in real life. He was speechless. He had been since he’d realized where he was. He’d often fantasize about going to the DC universe. Not that he’d ever expected to be here. And he'd never have thought he’d be this… scared. It annoyed him that he was. It was just the Wayne Manor.  _ Just the Wayne freaking Manor. Just Batman’s house. _

His heart sped up. He was in Batman’s house. In Batman’s turf. Bruce Wayne was in one of these rooms. Was it too late to leave?

_ Shut up.  _ He scolded himself.  _ This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  _ He smiled.  _ Dazai will never get to have this chance. And he can’t mess up my meeting with Batman either.  _ Finally something he can have for himself.

He kept walking. He knew he was walking aimlessly, but he didn’t particularly care. He could ask Alfred for directions later.  _ Alfred.  _ A small smile slid onto his face.

He passed a room and paused. He must have been thinking about Dazai subconsciously, because he could have sworn he had heard his voice. He leaned closer to the door. He heard someone else say something, then someone give a short laugh. He stiffened. He knew that laugh. He had to be hallucinating. Right? The first person continued to talk. He relaxed a little bit. He must have imagined it. 

“Whatever.” He whispered to himself. Even here, Dazai somehow managed to stress him out. And he was in a completely different universe. He became unfrozen and knocked on the door. Three voices called a come in. None of them where Dazai’s.  _ See?  _ He said to himself as he slowly turned the doorknob,  _ Just your imagination. Now act normal.  _ He pushed the door open and plastered on a big smile. 

“Chuuya, that smile looks completely fake. You’re not fooling anyone.” A well known voice said casually. Chuuya’s smile slipped off his face.

“DAZAI!” He thundered. 

“Come on. That’s no way to act in front of Bruce Wayne himself, Chibi.” Dazai gave his signature smirk. Chuuya had lept half way across the room, ready to throttle the Agency member. Upon hearing Dazai’s words, however, he hesitated. Reluctantly, he straightened up. He turned slowly to face the other people in the room. They looked back at him. He recognized them all instantly. 

Dick looked vaguely concerned. Tim looked a little amused. Damian seemed half shocked, half annoyed. And- Chuuya forced himself to meet the eyes of the fourth man- Bruce was as unreadable as ever. Chuuya felt his cheeks flush. 

He couldn’t apologize. Not in front of Dazai. But he had to. This was his only chance, right? He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

“Hi. I’m Nakahara Chuuya. I’m sorry if I was interrupting anything.” He sounded more curt than he had meant to be, but he was still angry at Dazai. Some part of him told him that Dazai probably hadn’t actually decided to come here, but he blamed his former partner all the same. He heard the brunette stage whisper behind his back:

“I’ve never seen him that polite before- he must be really excited to see you all.” 

Chuuya gritted his teeth, but forced himself not to come back with a retort. Thankfully, none of the Batfamily laughed at Dazai’s remark. However, they were canonically good at hiding their emotions, so he wasn’t sure if they were secretly amused.

Dick gave a quick wave. “Hi! I’m Dick Grayson. Nice to meet you!” 

“Nice to meet you too.” Chuuya smiled a little.

The rest of Dick’s brothers (minus Jason) introduced themselves. There was an awkward silence while Bruce looked Chuuya up and down. Then he said his name as well. Chuuya gave a little nod in his direction, then stood there for a few more moments. 

“You do realize he already knows all of your names, right?” They heard a cocky voice say. 

Bruce looked up briefly. “Jason.”

“Hello, dear old dad.” His son said sarcastically. “Thanks for throwing a welcome home party downstairs. I had a blast.” He smirked. Damian rolled his eyes while Tim gave a small grin. 

“Hi, Timmbers.” Jason grinned back. 

“Hey.” Tim replied. Dick smiled at Jason. Then he seemed to realize something and looked back at Chuuya, embarrassed. 

“So the introductions weren’t really necessary?” 

Chuuya had gone momentarily speechless again. He gave a shrug. He waited for Dazai to say something stupid- he always did- but nothing came. He glanced at the waste of bandages. The other man was staring at Jason, obviously trying to act as though he wasn’t in awe, but some astonishment peaked through. Chuuya felt some satisfaction.  _ At least I was the first one to meet the Red Hood.  _

He wasn’t the only one looking at Dazai, though. Jason spoke again. “Who’s this?” He asked, to no one in particular. It was odd to see someone who didn’t know who Dazai was. He jumped in before Dazai could say anything.

“This is that idiot I was telling you about earlier. He goes by Dazai, but you can call him anything you want. Insults are preferable.” He saw Dazai stiffen, ever so slightly, at this brusque introduction. He kept a smile on his face, though. 

“How did you find him, Jason? Did you use a magnifying glass?” Dazai said smugly. The other men looked back and forth between Dazai and Chuuya. There was definitely tension between them. Bruce groaned internally.

Jason seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this interaction, though. He caught Bruce’s eye and stifled a laugh.

Someone peeped in. Chuuya mentally cursed. It was that detective. Ranpo, or whatever his name was. He was the one man who was anywhere near as annoying as Dazai was. He had a lollipop in his mouth.

“Oh. Hey.” Ranpo said, not even surprised in the slightest that there was a Port Mafia executive standing a few feet away from him. Chuuya scowled at him. 

“Ranpo, this is Jason. Jason, Ranpo.” Dick said a little uncomfortably. The two said hello to each other. Damian stood up. 

“Where did you get that lollipop?” He said dangerously. Ranpo took it out and regarded him. 

“From a jar in one of the cabinets.” 

“Oh boy.” Tim whispered under his breath. 

“WHAT?!” Damian screeched, about to attack Ranpo. Bruce grabbed his arm just in time. “THOSE WERE MINE!” 

Jason burst into laughter, ignoring the warning glance that Dick shot him. Dazai and Chuuya both cringed silently. Even they knew that no one survived taking anything from Damian Wayne. 

Someone else peered in nervously. Chuuya sort of recognized him. 

“Um. Am I interrupting something?” Poe said timidly. 

“No.” Ranpo said, at the same time Damian yelled yes. Noticing the horror on Poe’s face, he calmed down a little bit. 

“Don’t be too worried, though. Where’s Karl?” 

“Playing with Pennyworth.” Poe said shyly.

“Oh. Good.” Damian’s voice was back to normal volume. Everyone else watched with amazement. “I have a spare cat bed that Karl can use if he wants to.” 

“Thank you. But he usually prefers to sleep on my bed.” 

Damian gave a rare smile. “So does Pennyworth. That’s fine.” There was a small pause, then Damian spun around to face Ranpo again. “If you touch anymore of my candy, I’ll kill you.” 

“Sure you will.” Ranpo said plainly. Damian frowned again. Chuuya held in a sigh. This wasn’t going to be the dream trip he’d hoped it would be. 

*****

Everyone was asleep. Both Bruce’s sons and the strangers from another universe. Finally. Bruce was free of annoying questions and people staring at him like he was some type of magical creature. He was alone. 

He was doing research. Alfred had told him not to do it at night, but this was getting out of hand. Two other people had shown up out of nowhere tonight. Two people that hated each other. He hoped they were the last two.

But so far, much to his frustration, he’d found nothing. Research led him nowhere. He banged his fist against his desk in frustration. He glared at the computer. He began to type again, but then stopped abruptly. A small red light had turned on. He looked at it curiously. That was the light that told him that the Batsignal was being used. But it was… four a.m. It was almost dawn. What did Gordon need now?

He quickly got his suit on, got into the Batmobile, and left the cave. He parked a few blocks away from the Batsignal and went by rooftop for the final leg. He arrived just when the commissioner's back was turned. 

“Gordon.” He let his voice turn into the familiar growl. Gordon spun around and sighed.

“I don’t know why I’m still spooked when I hear you behind me.” He huffed.  _ Me neither. _

Bruce thought. 

“Who’s attacking now?” He said out loud. 

“No one you know.” Gordon began. “All of the main villains are locked up. And, I suppose, this attacker isn't a villain per say. That sounds weird. Let me rephrase it. I’m pretty sure this attacker is just depending on natural instincts.” He could sense that Batman was narrowing his eyes behind his mask. He gave a sigh.

“Word on the street is that there’s a white tiger roaming around Gotham City.”


	5. Atsushi Is Confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiger time!!!

Dick had been part of the Batfamily for years now. He’d been snuck up on very few times since he’d joined it. Bruce was the one that usually did, but sometimes one of his brothers were able to as well. Those times were rarities, however. 

So that’s why he was surprised when he turned around to grab his staff and saw Dazai leaning against a wall watching him. He stared at him awkwardly. Dazai gave him a lazy smile. After a moment, Dick grinned back at him. Of course Dazai knew the code to the Batcave.

“Hi.” 

“Hey.” Dazai responded. He didn’t seem tired in the slightest. 

“Aren’t you exhausted? From all the multidimensional travel and stuff?” Dick asked curiously. 

“Shouldn’t  _ you _ be tired from a group of strangers showing up in your house?” Dazai pushed himself up into a proper standing position. There was no response. “I usually stay up late. I used to be up all night working before I joined the detective agency so I’ve gotten used to being up at late hours.”

“Oh?” Dick said, raising an eyebrow. “And what were you doing before?”

“Not writing.” 

Dick paused for a second, then burst into laughter. “I’d assume not. You don’t seem like the type.” 

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." Dazai replied. Dick grinned at him. 

“Good.” 

"What are you doing so late at night anyway?" Dazai questioned him.

"Getting ready to catch a tiger.” Dick put on his mask. Dazai looked surprised for a second, then recovered quickly. 

"A tiger?"

"Yeah."

"Tigers aren't very common in Gotham, are they?"

Dick laughed.

"Definitely not. Especially not white ones." Dazai looked even more shocked this time. He gave a smirk.

"Mind if I come along?” Seeing Dick’s hesitation, he continued. “I may not look like it, but I know a thing or two about white tigers." Dick thought for a minute. If he brought Dazai along, Bruce would probably be in a bad mood. Then again, he was always in a bad mood. Besides, if Dazai knew anything that could help the vigilantes, it couldn’t hurt to bring him along. He looked back at Dazai.

“Sure. Why not?” 

****

Bruce scowled at the two men standing in front of him. More specifically, Dazai. He was wearing one of the more noticeable masks (in other words, a mask more glammed out). That wasn’t the part that annoyed Bruce, though. The thing that annoyed him was that Dazai was  _ here,  _ instead of the Manor. Dazai seemed unfazed by Batman’s scowl. 

“Care to explain why you’ve brought this man here, Nightwing?” Bruce hissed. Dick forced himself not to fidget. Dazai acted completely at ease. 

“I heard you’re looking for a white tiger.” He said airily. Batman clenched his fists slightly. 

“I’ve fought tigers before. Unless you’re a tiger tamer, I don’t see how you can help.” He narrowed his eyes behind his cowl. 

“How often do you see white tigers around here?” Dazai replied.

“What exactly is your point?” Bruce answered.

“I’ve only ever seen one in my entire life. They aren’t really the kind of thing that you see often. With that being said, there’s one white tiger that I know fairly well. If Ranpo, Poe, and Chibi managed to make it into this universe, I wouldn’t be surprised if the tiger you’re looking for is the same one that I know.” Dazai said. 

_ Of course he knows a tiger,  _ Bruce thought bitterly. He looked at Dazai for a long moment, then spoke again.

“He’s a friend of yours?” 

“He’s my protege.” Dazai replied brightly. 

“Why am I not surprised?” Bruce said dryly. Dick laughed. He decided to step in. 

“So. Um, shouldn’t we be trying to find the tiger right about now?” He asked hurriedly. Bruce gave him his  _ you’re not helping  _ look, then sighed quietly. 

“He’s been sighted around the northside of Gotham.” He said bluntly.

“I guess that’s where we should be heading, then.” Dick said cheerfully, then took out his grappling gun. Bruce did the same, then shot it up in the air. In a few moments, he was gone. Dick looked at Dazai inquiringly. Dazai shook his head slightly. 

“Go ahead.” He waved away lazily. Dick looked at him, confused. 

“Uh, so see you later, then?” He asked. 

“Yep.” 

Dick cast one more uncertain look at Dazai, then shot the grappling gun at the same building Bruce had vanished to. 

Within seconds, Dazai was all alone again. He calmly left the alleyway in which they had been meeting, and stood on the curb. He held up a hand and waited for a cab to pull over. He opened the door and slide into the backseat. 

******  
Bruce was silent on the way to the other side of Gotham. He was still quietly fuming over Dazai. The man was frustratingly sure of himself. That bothered Bruce more than he cared to admit. 

He didn’t even check to make sure Nightwing was following. He knew he was. Dick had hit it off with Dazai, that much was obvious. That stressed him out even more.

He paused for a moment and scanned the area. His mask told him that there was no one tiger shaped nearby. He let out a frustrated huff. His mind wandered back to Dazai. He’d probably lied about the tiger. It was more likely that he had just used an excuse so that he could get mauled by the tiger.

He continued onwards. After a few minutes, he paused again. He had just heard a familiar voice coming from an alleyway. He dropped down silently. Nightwing followed in pursuit. Dazai had arrived there before they had. He was facing away from them, looking at a giant white tiger who was crouched down low. The tiger’s tail swished back and forth. His gaze never wandered from Dazai.

“Long time, no see.” The other man said, oblivious of the fact that he was face to face with a potentially dangerous predator. Bruce stiffened. He was unsure if Dazai had directed the comment at him or at the tiger. He didn’t speak.

Dazai took another step towards the tiger. The tiger gave a menacing growl, but didn’t move. “‘I’m hurt.” Dazai acted offended. “You’ve known me forever now. You don’t need to growl at me.” The tiger glared at him. Bruce took out a tranquilizer slowly. Dazai took another step.  _ He has a death wish,  _ Bruce thought. The tiger didn’t growl again, though. He seemed a little less tense than before. Dazai took another slow step. Bruce watched them cautiously. He could feel Nightwing getting ready to attack as well. The tiger gave a low huff and straightened up a little bit. His tail had stopped twitching. He took a few pawsteps towards Dazai, then hesitated. He sniffed him. Dazai gave a short laugh.

“Hi.” 

Bruce didn’t let his guard down, but he felt some relief. So they did know each other after all. He straightened slowly as well. So this wouldn’t end in disaster after all. 

Then someone dropped a bottle and gave a loud, drunken curse. Bruce cursed at them internally as well. The tiger was going to get distracted. That was the least of his worries a millisecond later, however, because the big cat let out a loud growl. Bruce actually cursed this time, and tried to shoot the tranquilizer. But he hadn’t counted on the tiger’s speed or agility. In a second, the tiger had sprung upon Dazai. 

He heard Nightwing yelling, and he could tell he was yelling as well, slightly panicked now. He’d wanted Dazai out of the way, sure. But he hadn’t wanted him dead. 

Then there was a flash, and Bruce was temporarily blinded. He hid his face with his cape. When he was sure there was no more light, he dropped his arm. To his surprise, the tiger was nowhere in sight. Instead, Dazai was holding a young man upright. 

The man had silver hair which was cut into choppy bangs. He was of scrawny build, and looked to be around his late teens. He seemed to be unconscious for a moment, then he opened his eyes again. They were a mix of purple and gold. He stared at the floor for a moment groggily, then seemed to realize where he was. He straightened up quickly. 

“Dazai-san?” He said, taken aback. Dazai grinned at him.

"Hey!" 

“Dazai!” Batman stalked towards Dazai. The boy took a step back apprehensively. 

“Batman.” Nightwing warned. Bruce ignored him.   
“What the h*ll were you thinking?!” He barked at Dazai.

Dazai looked at Bruce admirably. “You’re really good with dramatic entrances Batman-kun.” 

“Batman-kun?” The boy asked inquiringly. Dazai beamed down at him. 

“You’ve heard of Batman?” He asked. 

“I’ve heard some things about him.” He said quietly. Bruce scowled down at him and he shrunk back. The Caped Crusader softened.

“Who’s this?” He asked. 

Dazai gave another smile. “Batman-kun, Nightwing-kun, meet Atsushi-kun. Have you read his books too?” Nightwing grinned and said they both had.

“Books?” Atsushi asked, taking a step back. 

“Oh, right. You don’t know. We’re all famous authors here.” Dazai stretched a little. 

“Um. Where’s ‘here’?” Atsushi asked. Dazai looked at him incredulously. 

“Where else would we be? Gotham.” He said, shoving his hands into his pockets again. Atsushi stared at him blankly.

“Dazai-san… how many mushrooms have you had today?”

Dazai cocked his head. “You don’t believe me?” 

“Well, in all fairness, if someone told me that I was in a comic book, I wouldn’t believe them either.” Nightwing said softly. Batman still hadn’t said anything. Dazai gave a quick nod.

“Fair.” He turned to face Atsushi again. “We’re in a comic book. We’re not dreaming. And god job controlling the tiger.” He looked at vigilantes.

“He’s a weretiger.” 

They all stared at him, stunned, and then Atsushi spoke again. “Um, nice to meet you, Nightwing-san, Batman-san.” He gave a brief bow to both men. 

“Nice to meet you too, Atsushi.” Nightwing flashed a smile at him. Atsushi relaxed a little.

“How did you get here so fast?” Batman addressed Dazai. 

“I took a cab.” Dazai said. To Atsushi’s curiosity, any signs of snarkiness from his mentor’s voice were nonexistent. Batman was silent.

"You took a cab...wearing that?" Atsushi asked, looking up at Dazai's ridiculous mask. Batman felt a little relief. At least there was someone from this universe that had at least some common sense. 

“Yep! How’d you like my mask, Atsushi-kun?” Dazai said. 

“It’s… umm… nice?” Atsushi stammered. Nightwing stifled a laugh. Dazai spun around to face the rest of the Batfamily. 

“He’s not a threat, by the way.”

“I assumed.” Batman said dryly. “Since you were able to find a cab this late at night to get here, you can find one to go back to the Manor."

"Well uh, the thing is I don't have any more American money. Would you mind paying for my trip back? Or, even better, let me ride in the Batmobile?" Dazai asked.

“Dazai-san.” Atsushi whispered. He sent Batman an apologetic look. Batman scowled. 

“Here.” He took out some money and handed it to Dazai. “This should cover the expenses to go back to the Manor. Give me the mask.” He held out a hand. Dazai reluctantly gave it to him. 

“Fine…” He began to walk away. “C’mon, Atsushi-kun!” He called over his shoulder. Atsushi began to follow him, but Batman spoke up before he could go. 

“He can go in the Batmobile.” He said gruffly. Dazai stopped and stared at Batman with disbelief. 

“What?” 

“He wasn’t the one that thought that chasing a tiger around in the middle of the night without any proper equipment was a good idea.” Batman snapped. Atsushi began to say something, but then stopped. He had a feeling that he shouldn’t argue with this man. 

“You’d have to wait for a few minutes.” Batman addressed the weretiger. “If you want to go with Dazai, be my guest.” 

Atsushi looked back and forth between Dazai and Batman. Dazai gave a small nod. 

"That's okay. I'll go with you. I don't really know where I am so it's not like I'm in a rush." Atsushi responded.

Batman gave a sharp nod. “Nightwing, get the Batmobile.” He barked at the other superhero. 

“Alright.” Nightwing said back, then left. They watched him go, then Dazai spoke again. 

“I guess I’ll go as well, then.” He said. 

“Bye, Dazai-san.” Atsushi said. Dazai gave him a look of betrayal, then walked away, leaving Atsushi more than a little confused. 

Soon, he was left alone with Batman. He glanced at the older man, who stood stoically, staring off into space. Atsushi stood on his tippy toes for a few seconds, then went back down. 

"Um, how exactly did you meet Dazai-san?"

Batman gave a sigh. “He showed up at the gala yesterday.” 

“Gala?” 

“I hosted one.” 

“Oh.” Atsushi said. The other man didn’t seem at all interested in conversation. Atsushi was quiet for the rest of the wait. When the Batmobile pulled over, both of them felt incredibly relieved.

Batman opened the door on the driver’s side. “Get out.” 

Nightwing stared at him in dismay. “Oh, come on, B. I want to drive. You must be tired.” 

“Get. Out.” 

Atsushi stared at them with wide eyes. Nightwing reluctantly got out of the car. He smiled at Atsushi. 

“Do you want to sit in the passenger seat?” He asked. Atsushi shook his head.

“That’s fine.” He said shyly. Nightwing could have laughed. Atsushi was so different from Dazai that Nightwing had no idea why they seemed close. 

Atsushi got into the car quietly. Batman started the car as soon as he got in. They drove in silence for a while, then Nightwing spoke up.

“Are you hungry?” 

Atsushi smiled sheepishly. “A little bit. I can wait, though.” He looked down. He didn’t need to make these two men angry. 

“You’ll have to.” Batman said sternly. Atsushi’s heart sank a little. Then the vigilante spoke. “It’s a five minute drive from here to Wayne Manor. You can eat there.” 

“Or you can have these really bad crackers that we have just in case of emergencies.” Nightwing said perkily. Atsushi smiled slightly. 

“Whichever one you’d rather me eat, I’d be fine with.” He said.   
“There’s better food at the Manor.” Batman said, not turning around. 

“Yeah, no kidding.” Nightwing agreed. Atsushi laughed a bit. Nightwing grinned. 

They arrived at Wayne Manor a few minutes later. Atsushi had gotten increasingly tired in the car, and he could barely stumble out of the Batmobile. He looked around. They were in some kind of cave. Atsushi would have been amazed if he wasn’t so exhausted. 

“Another one?” A British voice said from behind them. 

“Yeah! Alfred, this is Atsushi. Atsushi, this is Alfred Pennyworth, the butler.” Nightwing introduced them. Atsushi quickly said a polite greeting, much to Alfred’s approval. 

“Did Dazai come back?” Batman said, taking off his mask to reveal his true identity. Atsushi sort of knew who Batman was, so he wasn’t extremely surprised, but it was still a tiny bit of a shock to see his face. 

“Yes, he did.” Alfred said. “In fact, he came in here complaining about someone making him ride a taxi home.” He raised an eyebrow.

“I paid for it.” Batman said, removing his gloves. “Are there left overs?” 

“Yes indeed, sir.” Alfred said. Batman nodded towards the stairs. 

“Take three lefts and you’ll find the kitchen.” He told Atsushi. Atsushi thanked him hastily, then ran up the stairs.

“Master Bruce, could you act any more intimidating?” Alfred said after the young man had disappeared. Dick chuckled behind him while Bruce looked almost confused.

“I’m not intimidating.”

“Yes you are, Bruce.” Dick said. “I think you traumatized that kid. What did you even say to him?”

Bruce looked at him, annoyed. “Nothing. We waited for you to come back.” 

“Oh, that explains it.” Dick whispered. Bruce scowled at him. 

****

Atsushi stiffened when he heard someone moving around in the kitchen. He crept into the kitchen slowly. “Hello?”

“I’m here.” An unfamiliar voice said. He padded towards the voice, keeping in mind that he had no idea if anyone here was to be trusted. He hadn’t even seen Dazai here. Batman could have kidnapped him for all he knew. 

He slid his hand across until he found a light switch and turned it on. He squinted in the sudden bright light. A boy- younger than him, it seemed, sat in the kitchen, eating something out of a bowl. Atsushi tried to relax. 

“Who are you?” The boy said, not rudely. 

“I-I’m Atsushi.” Atsushi said nervously. 

“Oh. So you know Dazai.” 

Atsushi stared at him blankly. _So Dazai’s already a name for himself. _“Yeah. We work together.”  
The boy gave a smile. “I can’t imagine what it’d be like working with him.” 

Atsushi smiled back at him. “It’s… interesting to say the least. But so is working with everyone else.” 

“Yeah, I’d imagine. Especially working with someone like Chuuya.” 

Atsushi froze. “Chuuya-san’s here?” The boy gave him a curious look. 

“Yeah. Why?” 

Atsushi blushed a tiny bit. “I just wasn’t expecting him to be here. Um, who else is around here?” 

The boy took another spoonful of whatever he was eating, swallowed, then spoke up. “Ranpo and Poe showed up.”  
“Oh.” Atsushi said, then his stomach growled. The boy looked at him, amused. 

“You hungry?” He asked. Atsushi laughed. 

“Sort of.”   
The boy got up and went to the refrigerator. He opened it up. “We’ve got a lot of stuff. What do you want?”  
Atsushi shrugged. “Whatever you want to give me.” He said. 

The boy gave a raspy laugh. “You’re not demanding, are you?” 

Atsushi gave a smile- a big one this time. “Yeah.”   
The boy took out a bowl of fruit salad. “How much do you want?” 

“Not that much. I don’t want to hog it.” Atsushi said.

“Oh, trust me, it’s gonna be gone by breakfast anyway. Jason comes in and eats half of the contents of the refrigerator at like six.” Seeing Atsushi’s bewildered look, he clarified. “He’s one of my brothers. The second oldest out of all of us, even though he doesn't act like it.” He took out another bowl and filled it halfway with fruit. He gave it to Atsushi, along with a fork.

“I’m Tim, by the way.” He said, sitting down. 

“Nice to meet you.” Atsushi said before starting to eat. His mind wandered over what had just happened. This past hour had felt too real to be a dream, and he could taste the fruit, which meant that he definitely wasn’t asleep. He wasn’t the only one from his universe here, so that was good. Still, something was bothering him. He’d been able to control his ability easily after Dazai had used his ability. But he shouldn’t have been able to do so. Director Fukuzawa was the man that helped him control his power. But the Director wasn’t here… was he?

“Hi, Atsushi-kun!” Dazai said, stepping into the kitchen. Atsushi looked up at him seriously and watched Dazai’s expression change as he spoke. 

“Dazai-san… I think the Director’s here.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone interested: In my head, the weird mask that Dazai is wearing in this chapter looks like Akechi's mask in Persona 5. It's so dumb!!! Dazai would definitely pick something stupid like it and you can't convince me otherwise. Thanks for taking the time to read this note lmao. It had to be said. -Trekkie

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!  
Thank you for reading this crossover! I'm hoping it wasn't too confusing for anyone... but please let me know if it was. This is my first collab with anyone and it's way more fun than I ever expected it to be (and I expected it to be really fun). Trekkie_Pizza is a great writer and friend, and I definitely suggest that you check her stories out. I actually have no idea how many chapters this story will have, so I can't tell you exactly when we'll be done, but hopefully soon! Whenever we're halfway done, I'll update you! As always, don't be afraid to give me any feedback. I love hearing from you guys! For anyone that justs wants Batfam content, I'll be posting more chapters in other works soon as well!  
See you soon,  
Oki Ashi
> 
> Hey! It's me! Trekkie_Pizza! So far I've had a blast working on this with my friend Oki Ashi! She writes about Batman a lot and her stuff is great so definitely check her out if you haven't already! This story is probably gonna be longer than anything else either of us have written before so I hope you stick around and enjoy it!


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